Chapter 3
8 days after the battle of Crait - the new Resistance base - planet Arbra
Rey's room was small but comfortable. Her faithful staff leaned on the wall next to her bunk; it had been her only possession for so long. When she was thirteen, she had swapped an imperial cruiser compressor for it from a merchant on Jakku named Watts. Ever since then, it had saved her life countless times and never been far from her side. Now though, she also had Luke's saber, or what was left of it anyways, in her possession.
The pieces of the sword sat on the table facing her next to some of the books she had stolen from Ahch-To. The rest were sprawled out across her bed and her lap. She had been consulting their pages in hopes of finding information on the construction of sabers. Most of the passages she had found however were written in a language she couldn't understand, but luckily, they came with diagrams that depicted how the pieces were supposed to fit together. After spending some time studying the pictures, she had undertaken the careful dismantling of the weapon. From what she could understand; the Jedi who built their own sabers had to do more than just connect the separate parts. One or more kyber crystals formed the heart of the device, but their installment required absolute concentration and mastery over the Force.
How exactly she was to go about achieving that though, the books didn't say.
Each part of the dismantled sword was now spread out in front of her: the energy cell, the magnifier, the blade emitter, the power port, the flux stabilizer, and the three famed crystals. One of them had a blackish hue unlike the other two that glittered brilliantly blue. The shock wave that had hit both her and Kylo in the throne room had rendered it unusable. The crystal had to be replaced but she couldn't risk going alone to Lothal* because the planet was in enemy territory, and she probably wouldn't be finding a new kyber crystal amongst Arbra's forests.
The young woman sighed as she noisily closed the book in her lap. She couldn't help her mind from wandering back to Luke.
What a waste!
She felt her throat close as tears welled up in her eyes.
She didn't know a single thing and she had so many questions. None of which the old books would ever be able to answer for her.
Her tears began to flow as guilt washed over her like a tidal wave.
She hadn't been able to bring Kylo Ren back to the Light Side, and she would never succeed in repairing the saber. She was useless. The only thing she was good for was collecting junk on Jakku and waiting in vain for the return of parents that had never wanted her in the first place.
In the middle of her fit, someone knocked on the door. She quickly wiped her wet cheeks off as best as she could.
"Come in!" She called when she felt presentable.
The door slid open and Leia's silhouette stood framed in the doorway. The general greeted her with a tired smile before she entered the room.
"May I?" She asked, gesturing to the bunk next to Rey.
"Of course," the young woman replied, standing to put away the books that had been haphazardly scattered across her bed.
Leia sat down and eyed Rey's work laid out on the table.
"Doing a little DIY?"
"Yes, I…" Rey started, taking a seat next to the rebel leader. "I'm trying to anyways, but one of the crystals is broken".
Leia could easily hear the disappointment that the scavenger felt from the tone of her voice and she picked up the blackened crystal to examine it more closely.
"You know, I always dreamt of having my own lightsaber." She admitted.
Rey's eyes snapped up to the woman's face.
"Oh, make no mistake! I never wanted to become a Jedi, oh no. My brother had always been the more gifted of us when it came to manipulating the Force. He taught me one or two things a long time ago, but I've never been a good student. I'm still convinced that Luke was stronger than our father. But he always maintained that Master Yoda was the most powerful of Jedi though."
"Master Yoda? Luke's mentor?"
Leia looked at Rey curiously.
"Back on Jakku there was an old explorer who often made visits to the tavern near Unkar Plutt's trading post. Some nights he would tell stories about the Jedi Knights and their exploits during the time of the Republic: Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu… I was fascinated."
Leia's gaze clouded over for a moment as if lost to her memories.
"And heroes become legends," she sighed, her face suddenly sobering.
Rey thought back to Luke's words on Ahch-To during her second lesson. His bitter rant against the Jedi Order had been so devastatingly demoralizing.
"Your brother…" she began before pausing, wondering briefly if she should continue before pressing onwards. "He was really angry about Ben. He had no faith in the Jedi doctrine anymore. He said that he had betrayed the confidence you and Han had placed in him, that even though people thought of him as a legend it didn't stop him from failing Ben."
Leia let out a long sigh and her fingers closed tightly around the crystal in her palm.
"He didn't fail Ben. Han and I failed. We were his parents. He needed us and we passed that responsibility unfairly on to Luke. We had all sensed the darkness inside of him, and instead of reassuring him, accepting him, trying to understand him, we were afraid of him. The legacy my father left behind was such a heavy burden to bear… The visceral fear that we had of the Dark Side skewed our judgment, both mine and Luke's. We were all responsible for the birth of Kylo Ren."
General Organa set the crystal back down on the table and a leaden silence blanketed the room. Rey clasped her hands tightly together to stop herself from fidgeting. She couldn't keep it a secret anymore. She had to tell Leia. Maybe the woman would be able to help her understand.
"General," the young woman began.
"Please Rey, you know well enough by now to call me Leia."
"Right, Leia." Rey took a deep breath. "I have to tell you something."
The rebel leader listened attentively the young woman's story. Rey told her about the first time the Force had connected her and Ben on Ahch-To. She told her about the second time, on the cliff near the Millennium Falcon, when Leia's son had confessed to her that he had never hated Han and then uttered the sentence that Rey knew well was his only line of conduct.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. That's the only way to become what you were meant to be."
Words he had stolen from his repugnant master, no doubt.
Leia's neck bent as she lowered her head, stunned by the weight of the revelations. Rey paused before continuing, but the old woman's hand that came up to rest on top of hers urged her to do so.
She then told her what had happened in the cavern on Ahch-To, the words she had exchanged with his son and the vision sent by the Force. Ben was free from Snoke's hold, and haloed by Light Side.
But she didn't talk about the indescribable sensation and the heat she had felt when his fingers had come into contact with hers… The stream of pure energy that had ignited every part of her being and every inch of her body. A feeling she had never even come close to experiencing before. She had to hide it because deep down she knew that it was wrong. Kylo Ren was a monster. How could one feel things like that when they were dealing with a monster?
With a flutter of her eyelids, she repressed the memory and returned to the story she wanted to tell.
"After Luke caught us in the hut, I forced him to tell me what really happened that night at the Jedi Temple." Rey swallowed hard. "Your brother went to Ben's room, when he had been sleeping. When your son woke Luke was leaning over him with an ignited lightsaber. He thought that his own uncle was going to kill him."
Leia clapped a hand over her mouth, so wholly horrified that she was unable to utter a single sound. She had suddenly become very pale and Rey almost regretted everything that she had just said. But she couldn't turn back now.
"Luke lost it for a split second. But I think he was being honest when he told me that he would never hurt Ben. Guilt drove him to Ahch-To and made him turn his back on everything; the Force, the Resistance, you. It's because of what Luke did that night that Ben joined Snoke."
The entire weight of the galaxy seemed to pull Leia's shoulders down, yet her eyes remained dry. After the death of most of her friends, her greatest love, and her brother, she had no tears left to shed. So she remained silent, her face unreadable.
"It's too late now," she said eventually. "Too many terrible things have happened."
It was Rey's turn to take the general's hand in hers to try to comfort her.
"During each of my connections with Ben, and when I saw him on the Finalizer, I felt the conflict inside of him between the Light and Dark. He saved me from Snoke, he turned his back on him; just as I saw in my vision. The Dark Side still hasn't completely won him over."
"He's the leader of the First Order now, his goal is to wipe all of us out," Leia disagreed sadly.
Suddenly, she turned to look at Rey with a gaze so blazingly intense that the scavenger couldn't turn away even though she wanted to.
"Have you been in contact with him since Crait?"
"No," the young woman asserted.
"Do you think you'll be connected to him again?"
"I don't think so. Snoke told us that he was behind the mind-link."
"How?"
"I don't know, I was kind of hoping that you'd be able to answer that for me. I still don't understand how any of it worked and Ben didn't seem to either. But nothing's happened since Crait."
"Luke and I shared a similar connection. Indeed, it's a very strong bond, difficult to explain and even harder to understand. It's existence just has me worried-"
"I swear that I would never put the resistance at risk!"
"I know that, Rey." Leia reassured her, tightening her grip on the scavenger's hand. "I was just going to say that I was worried about you. Your heart is pure, and full of good intentions. I don't want you to get hung up on the false hope that you can still save him."
"I've always been good at fixing things…" Rey's voice trembled as she spoke, trailing off. She was on the verge of crying again and quickly brought a hand up to her face to try and keep the tears at bay.
Leia dipped her hand into one of her coat's blue pockets and pulled something from it. Rey couldn't see what it was at first, but when the general opened her fingers, Rey almost couldn't believe her eyes. Sorrow gave way to stupefaction. The young woman was completely dumbfounded by the opalescent crystal that the rebel princess held.
"That's a-" she stuttered and stammered, trying to keep her excitement under control.
"I've always wanted a lightsaber." The rebel leader laughed a little. "And I've done quite a bit of travelling. My time on Lothal fifteen years ago was not very pleasant, but I still took a souvenir home with me.
Leia set the crystal down on the table next to the other three.
"It's yours now." She said simply before standing.
Stunned into silence, Rey only managed to find her voice when the princess was halfway out the door.
"Leia!" She called as the general turned to give her a parting look. "Thank you," she said, her eyes full of more gratitude than she could put into words.
"Make good use of it," Leia said simply before leaving the room.
OoooooO
8 days after the battle of Crait - On board the Finalizer
"Supreme Leader, the shuttle from Korriban is approaching."
At the announcement, Kylo Ren and his entourage of four stormtroopers hurriedly left the destroyer's upper deck to join the main hangar. Now that he was the undisputed leader of the First Order, this kind of familiarity might seem incongruous. Snoke, nor even Hux, would have rushed off to greet subordinates in this manner.
But Kylo didn't care what his staff thought.
When he stepped out of the elevator and crossed the landing platform towards their shuttle, every soldier, technician, and droid stood frozen at attention. He ignored them all. Ren came to a halt in front of the quickly lowering ramp that engulfed him in a cloud of steam and the sound of grinding metal.
Before even laying eyes on them, Kylo could feel their familiar presences. His knights had finally arrived.
Sylla was the first to disembark, clad in her mask, and the others weren't far behind. Just like her, they wore their dark uniforms and inscrutable metal helmets. The small smile that had been on Kylo's face faded swiftly when he counted their numbers; there were only four of them. Without hesitating, they formed a semi-circle around their master and bowed their heads.
Elias spoke first, his voice distorted by the steel walls around his mouth.
"Greetings, Lord Ren, we're at your service."
Kylo's eyes swept over the forms of the four knights with both relief and annoyance.
"Viri Pax isn't among you," he said dryly.
"He was delayed on Hays Minor," Sylla answered.
A thick silence hung in the air and none of the knights dared move.
"Still?" Kylo asked, this time making no effort to hide his displeasure.
None of his comrades even hazarded a glance up at him.
"Bram?" The new Supreme Leader demanded.
"The uprising on Hays Minor has, it seems, posed more of a problem than expected." The young Arkanian answered eventually.
The bad news had dampened the reunion. The knights held their breath as they waited for their master's reaction. But Kylo simply spun on his heels and headed back towards the elevator bay without any sort of display.
"Follow me." He ordered, and the four black figures hastened to obey.
OoooooO
8 days after the battle of Crait - the new Resistance base - planet Arbra
Poe was sitting at the back of the empty refectory, his eyes trained on his cup. To say he was upset would be an understatement. He couldn't stop thinking about the meeting that had been planned with Naboo's emissary on Endor. Specifically, about how it was too risky. He knew that Finn had his reservations regarding the assembly as well, yet they had no choice in the matter. He loathed to admit it, but he was terrified of falling back into Kylo Ren's hands again. He didn't have particularly fond memories of their last encounter.
"You seem pensive, captain."
Leia's voice pulled him from his thoughts as she made her way through the hall and sat down in front of him, setting her cup of tea on the table. In lieu of answering her, the pilot took a long sip from his own tumbler.
"Thank you again for volunteering for the Endor mission."
Poe raised his hand to stop her from saying any more.
"You're right. We need support from the people of Naboo, and if you trust them then I will too. And I… I never had a chance to tell you how sorry I was for the loss of your brother," Dameron exhaled sadly. "He saved all of our lives on Crait and he was truly a great man."
Leia nodded in agreement with a sad smile and a comfortable silence settled between the two of them as they drank their tea. Luke's sister observed a few rebels that entered the refectory as they took seats and chatted quietly amongst themselves.
"I need you." She said abruptly. "I need you to guide what's left of the rebels and preserve the hope in their hearts."
Poe looked up at her then, both startled and confused by her words. Leia, meanwhile, was still watching the little group that had begun laughing.
"General…"
"I'm not immortal, Poe, and I'm tired."
Leia paused, now making eye contact with the pilot.
"You have the soul of a leader, Dameron, despite your stubbornness and impulsiveness. I can see it. You proved it on Crait when all hope seemed to be lost. And even during your little mutiny on the Ninka, your plan wasn't perfect, but it was good. Amylin Holdo held you in high esteem, and I do too."
Poe huffed out a sad little laugh.
"Is that a joke? Holdo hated me!"
"Amylin played her cards close to her chest, that's all. Ever heard of tough love?" Leia tried to joke, but the memory of the rebel sacrificing herself for their escape instantly revived the pain brought on by the loss of so many.
"Vice Admiral Holdo was a true leader. I'm just a pilot."
Leia covered his hand with hers on top of the table.
"I believe in you, Poe. It will be up to you to take care of them and protect Rey, to keep the spark alive."
"You are the spark, General. Without you-"
"Promise me." Leia implored him.
Poe looked down to their hands before back up to her face.
"I promise."
OoooooO
8 days after the battle of Crait - On board the Finalizer
Armitage Hux stood in the middle of the vast glass room on the Finalizer's upper deck. Kylo Ren had insisted that the space be arranged according to his instructions. Snoke's imposing metal throne had been recovered from the remnants of the Supremacy and placed against the back wall on a large platform facing the entrance. A magnificent transparent dome surrounded the room and next to the throne, a gigantic holocom was about to make contact with Hays Minor.
Ren's knights were lined up to the left of their leader who sat atop his throne and Hux stood uncomfortably in front of them with the knowledge that he was most certainly being scrutinized from head to toe. None of them wore their masks, so he had already gotten a feel for the contemptuous glances being thrown his way. They had only arrived a day prior to take up quarters on the ship, but Armitage already knew that they were all the same; pedantic brutes who thought themselves superior to him.
Upon their arrival the general had been relegated to doing Phasma's work: the surveillance of communications and establishment of new stormtrooper garrisons on the planets that had recently fallen under the thumb of the First Order.
Hux's fists clenched unconsciously and his nails bit into the flesh of his palms as he suppressed an exasperated sigh. He knew that he had to show patience and remain impassive, a skill that he had learned long ago, but it was growing difficult.
Suddenly, a squadron of stormtroopers burst into the room, lining up on either side of the door to make way for a tall black silhouette.
Kylo Ren looked surprised.
"Viri Pax," he murmured as the newcomer approached and greeted him in the same fashion that the others had the day prior.
The Zabrak removed his mask and held it under his arm. His face looked like it had been carved out of marble. Small horns marred the surface of his perfectly smooth skull while, just like his comrade Yehnu, tribal-looking black patterns adorned his forehead, cheeks, and chin. His skin was clay coloured and he bore an ugly gash on his left cheek while his irises were an aggressive yellow.
"Lord Ren, or should I call you Supreme Leader…"
His voice was serious but imbued with a strangely sweet quality.
"I thought you had been waylaid on Hays Minor. We were just about to try to contact you." Kylo retorted.
Viri Pax's gaze furtively passed over the faces of all of his comrades before settling on Hux's.
"A rebellion broke out among the slave miners and, just as we were preparing to solve the problem, we were attacked."
"Attacked, by who?"
"Five X-wing fighters and ground troops. I only had two platoons of stormtroopers with me."
"Who?" Ren repeated, hands laid flat on the armrests of his seat, obviously trying to control his growing rage.
"Probably rebels."
Kylo Ren inhaled deeply before speaking in a chilling voice:
"The rebellion is dead."
All eyes were on the Supreme Leader. Hux was astonished that he had not cut down his disciple and reduced him to mere pieces with his saber by now. The tension in the room grew until the air became almost unbreathable, but the Zabrak met his master's gaze without so much as flinching. Hux even thought he could detect a hint of defiance in the underling's yellow eyes.
"Their leader was someone we've dealt with before: Maz Kanata. We held them off until reinforcements arrived from Hays Major and neutralized two of their fighters in the process, but the others managed to escape. They also successfully smuggled about twenty slaves out with them."
It took all of Hux's energy to suppress the smile that rose to his lips. This time there was no escaping it. The poor fellow had sealed his fate. His life would be over momentarily. Just as the soldier was expecting, Kylo Ren stood up from his seat and moved to stand in front of Viri Pax, jaw tightly clenched. A deathly silence blanketed the room. Of equivalent statures, the two knights fixed their gazes intensely on one another. When Ren's lapdog spoke again without any hesitation in his voice, Hux decided that the man must have a death wish.
"I see that you've also been faced with an unexpected challenge."
Viri Pax gestured to the scar that sliced Kylo's face in half.
More silence. More blazing looks.
A secret conversation seemed to be taking place between the two of them that no one else in the room was privy to. But the topic was clear: How could Ren blame his subordinate for losing twenty slaves and a handful of rebels when he himself had failed so miserably on Crait?
This situation is becoming more and more interesting, Hux thought to himself.
Kylo eventually broke eye contact with the knight and turned to face the holocom. Hux, speechless, couldn't take his eyes off of the man who had dared to address the Supreme Leader in such a way. He was suddenly struck with the memory that the six knights had known each other since childhood. They had all trained to become Jedi together for years before giving into the call of the Dark Side. The bond that united them was visibly stronger than he had ever imagined. However, Hux could also feel the tension that brewed not far beneath the surface of their small group.
The soldier had also noticed the position of privilege that the arrogant moron named Elias seemed to think he had. The saying "birds of a feather flock together" came to mind when Hux looked at him. Yet, him and the Supreme Leader couldn't be more physically different. Elias had short dirty blonde hair, a square face and his bright ocean-blue eyes had immediately clued Hux into the fact that he was smarter than he looked. Armitage took stock of the fact that Elias couldn't help but grind his teeth when Viri Pax had advanced towards the Supreme Leader without permission as well.
"What happened to Snoke?" Asked the Zabrak. "We all felt disturbances in the Force a few weeks ago, a sort of weakening of the Dark Side." He said, turning to face the other knights.
"Like when Jor was killed by the rebels," Bram added, point blank.
Now, all heads turned towards Yehnu. The Rattataki lowered his chin instantly to look at the floor as he clenched his teeth at the mention of his brother's name. Elias stiffened as well.
Hux took note of the looks the tall blonde, the Zabrak, and the Arkanian shared with each other.
There had been a seventh night of Ren?
"We felt something else too." Yehnu spoke, still looking at the ground. "The awakening of someone… someone powerful."
How would Ren get himself out of this one? Hux shifted his weight on his feet.
He knew immediately that his thoughts had been a little too loud when Kylo glanced towards him. The man would probably have preferred it if the general of his army wasn't present while he was feeding lies to his friends.
Well. Go on Supreme Leader, give us your pitch…
"A girl from Jakku discovered her affinity to the Force very recently. She was recovered by the Resistance and managed to contact Skywalker." Kylo said.
"Skywalker…" Bram began, frowning.
"He's dead." Ren replied, his face frozen in the reflection of the smooth surface of the communicator. "He Force projected himself to Crait as a diversion to protect the Resistance and the effort killed him."
"We felt that too," Yehnu murmured.
Kylo had no choice then but to tell his knights about his encounter with Rey on Takodana, the sabotage on Starkiller, his confrontation with his father, and his fight with the traitorous stormtrooper and the young woman in the forest.
"You killed Han Solo…"
Sylla trailed off, the disbelief in her voice was reflected on the faces of the other knights. Only Elias seemed unsurprised.
Hux couldn't believe it.
Was the goddess-like warrior in front of him really impressed?
Even if she wasn't, Hux could tell that she had been hungry for the Supreme Leader's attention ever since she had entered the room.
Interesting.
"That she managed to get the upper hand on you when you had just been shot on Starkiller is conceivable, but how did a scavenger defeat Snoke in a room protected by eight guards? What training could she have done with Luke to become that powerful?" Viri Pax asked skeptically.
The moment of truth had been reached. Hux would finally see if Kylo Ren could prove himself to be the best liar in the whole galaxy.
Everyone in the room hung on his next words.
"Snoke evidently underestimated her. He asked me to bring her to the throne room to be questioned and he took the Skywalker lightsaber from her. He placed it on the armrest of his throne and then ordered me out. I had a bad feeling about it since I had dealt with the girl in the forests of Takodana and I knew that she wouldn't give in, so I stayed close. When I heard the sounds of a struggle I went back into the room and the Supreme Leader was dead. The girl had used the Force to remotely activate Luke's saber and cut Snoke down. By the time I made it back to the room she was fighting two of the Praetorian guards, two were already dead, and the last four came at me."
"She turned them against you," Sylla proposed.
It was incredible! They were all willing to believe his insane story, just like that!
This time it was too much.
"Snoke was one of the most powerful Force users in the entire galaxy! The girl was nothing but an unrefined junk trader from Jakku!" Hux couldn't help but exclaim, his voice full of scorn.
All eyes snapped to him in an instant, every person in the room wondering who had allowed an insignificant insect like him to open his mouth in the first place.
He saw Kylo Ren raise his hand, probably to try and make him swallow his words, but before he could even begin to choke, the female knight's perfect face found itself only inches from his own. Her eyes looked like two glimmering black pearls as she stared him down.
"I could make you tear your own tongue out at my will if I wanted to." Sylla's warm breath caressed the soldier's now tightly sealed lips. "And I want to," she added with a smile as predatory as it was diabolically sensual.
Hux felt sweat gather in beads on his forehead. He cursed himself for having lost his temper. Surprisingly though, Viri Pax came to his aid almost instantaneously by diverting the conversation.
"The girl managed to escape."
It wasn't a question, but a statement.
He had picked out another of Kylo Ren's failures. Decidedly, Armitage began to appreciate the man who didn't seem to be afraid of anything.
This time though Ren swiveled abruptly to face him before raising his arms towards the man. Hux watched as the Zabrak closed his eyes and then froze in place before crumpling to the ground, clearly under some sort of mental duress as he twitched on his knees in front of the new Supreme Leader.
"You forget to whom you speak to, my friend," Kylo Ren spat as the knight on the ground writhed in pain, groaning almost continuously through clenched teeth.
For the most part, the others didn't even look at their comrade who lay in a heap on the floor. Sylla was the only one to move as she fell back into line with the other knights. But after a moment, Elias took a step towards Ren.
"Kylo…" he murmured imploringly.
At the sound of his name Kylo ended Viri Pax's torture. All defiance had been cowed from his face as the Zabrak rubbed his neck with a gloved hand. Yet, Hux thought he could detect a gleam of dull rage in his eyes for just a moment before he stood.
"Forgive me, Supreme Leader," the words were labored and he struggled to speak clearly as he lowered his head and joined his comrades in line, standing next to Sylla.
Satisfied, Kylo Ren took a few seconds to collect himself before he returned to his seat. He inhaled deeply as he relaxed back against the throne, his forearms spread casually on top of the armrests. Six pairs of eyes stared up at him expectantly.
"Now we can discuss my plans for the First Order."
Hux swallowed hard in an attempt to dislodge the ball of hatred that was stuck in his throat to no avail.
I'll have your head, Ren. And sooner than you think too.
OoooooO
*Lothal: a planet in the Outer Rim known for its kyber crystal deposits.